A Haunting Truth
by emmadactryl
Summary: Alpha Force are in Northumberland when they discover something so horifying they risk everything to try and put a stop to it. Not giving too much away 'cause I like suspense and I'm not sure how it will unfold. Rated T for some violence and swearing.
1. Prologue

**Wow! My fourth Alpha Force fan fic. I'm not entirely sure if this one will work, or how long it will be or even if I will have enough inspiration to finish it but I thought that I might as well start and see what you guys thought. **

**I can't claim much for this story. The inspiration came from another series of books (Maximum Ride by James Patterson) and from an essay I wrote last term. This chapter won't give much away as to what this actual story is about and it will be quite short but oh well. Here goes nothing.**

The cell was cold and dark. The smell of unwashed bodies and urine lingered everywhere, from the concrete floor to the stone walls. Ally couldn't remember life outside the cell. She had been just three years old when they had brought her here. That had been two years ago and since that day she had known nothing but the walls of her cell.

All that was about to change.

Ally was woken by the sound of her door being unlocked and pushed open. She sat up in fright as a tall, thin figure dressed in a white lab coat limped through into the cell. He smiled sadistically at Ally and stretched a hand towards her.

'Your time has come,' he whispered.

Ally's eyes grew wider. Time for what? Was she being set free? After so many days in this awful hellhole, she felt a small glimmer of hope. Shyly, she put her tiny hand in the scientist's thin, bony grasp. She slid off her thin mattress and the man led her towards the door. Ally was so focused on imagining what it would be like to see the sky and feel the grass under her feet that she didn't notice the two huge guards standing outside her cell. They grasped her stick-like arms and pulled her roughly down the dimly lit corridor. Ally started to panic. What was going on? On either side of her, lining the corridors were doors, just the door that had kept her imprisoned for two long years. There was mostly no sound leaking from behind the doors, but occasionally a small whimper or sniffle could be heard. Ally started to feel really scared.

At the end of the hall, there was a white double door. The guards nudged the doors open with their feet and strode through, Ally dangling in their grasp. The doors led to a huge laboratory. Benches and shelves lined the walls and several people in white lab coats were busy working at various points around the room. The guards took Ally to the very back of the room and pushed her into a small cage. She sat hunched in the corner, eyes darting frantically. This wasn't right. What was happening?

For the next hour, Ally huddled in her cage watching the scientists at work. Eventually a young woman came and pulled her out of the cage and carried her to a table. Ally struggled as two men strapped her down but it made no difference. The woman left and returned a few minutes later with a syringe. Ally started to cry as a patch of skin on her arm was scrubbed. The woman filled the syringe with a bright blue liquid. She positioned the needle over Ally's arm.

'This won't hurt a bit,' she said.

It was the worst pain Ally had ever experienced. She arched her back but the straps tying down her arms and legs prevented her from moving too much. She gave a high, draw-out scream but it was as if everyone in the lab was deaf. No one paid the slightest attention to her.

The woman left after making notes on her clipboard but the two men stayed. After a few minutes, by which time she was entirely numb, the men unstrapped her and took her back to the small cage. Ally curled up inside it and cried. The pain was still flaring through her body, but she didn't registered it. Her vision swam and her breathing slowed. Ally's small body began to shut down, reacting with the drug that she had been given. The last thing she saw was the woman's frowning face pressed against the metal bars of her cage.

'Not good. Not good at all. That batch needs to go back upstairs.'

Ally shook her head gently. Batch? What was she talking about? Then Ally slipped away, finally finding freedom from her suffering.

**Sorry that was short, had not a word about Alpha Force and was probably incredibly confusing but you will have to wait and see. Please review guys and let me know what you think.**

**Emmalea**


	2. Chapter 1

**Woops. Forget the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alpha Force and I sort of don't own the plot. **

Hex groaned and covered his ears.

'Must they make so much noise?!' he cried. Amber grinned and patted his shoulder.

'Think about what it must be like for them; the poor things just want a home to go to,' she said. Hex rolled his eyes and finished scrubbing out the water bowl.

Alpha Force were in Northumberland, staying with Alex and his family. They had been there for a few days when Amber caught sight of an advertisement in a shop window.

_Wanted. Volunteers to help out at local dog pound. Must be dedicated and willing to work hard_.

Amber had immediately rung up and volunteered not only herself, but Alex, Paulo, Li and Hex as well.

'It's a chance to help make a difference,' Amber had said firmly. No one was going to argue with Amber, so they all had their names put down on the volunteer list.

Now Hex was wondering whether escape was possible. He and Amber had scrubbed abut a million water and food bowls and the dogs' barking was driving him up the wall. Just as he was about to sneak off to the toilets, Li, Paulo and Alex came running up to them. Hex screamed silently as Amber gave a gasp of delight.

'Ohhhhh. So cute!' she cooed as Li handed her a lead. Attached to the other end was a small terrier with big brown eyes and pointed ears. Amber immediately bent down and made a fuss of the dog, who rolled over, demanding a tummy scratch. Alex was struggling to control a boisterous Rottweiler puppy while Paulo cradled a tiny poodle. Hex couldn't help grinning. A poodle! That didn't really fit with the big Argentinean. Li's dog, who was sedately chewing a tennis ball, didn't exactly match the lively Anglo-Chinese girl either. Hex realised with immense relief that they didn't appear to have a dog for him.

'Don't worry, Hex,' Li remarked, bringing Hex's good fortune crashing down. 'Kayla has a dog for you.'

Just as Li finished speaking, Kayla appeared around the corner. She was a volunteer at the shelter as well and had taken Alpha Force under her wing, showing them around and teaching them about looking after the dogs.

'Where's-' Hex stopped abruptly as he saw the dog trailing behind Kayla. 'What is that?!'

Kayla grinned. 'Isn't he lovely? This is Titch. He's a Great Dane.'

'Thanks Kayla,' Amber laughed. 'Hex'll have fun with him.'

* * *

After walking the dogs, Alpha Force sat in the volunteer room eating and talking to the other workers. Hex was rubbing his arm, a grimace on his face.

'Never again,' he muttered. He turned to Paulo. 'If I ever even _suggest _getting a dog, punch me.' Paulo laughed and nodded.

'Of course.'

Amber bounded up to their table.

'Oh, please can I be included in that responsibility?' she begged. Hex looked horrified and quickly shook his head.

'No way in hell, Amber!'

Amber pouted. 'You're so mean.'

Kayla wandered over to the five friends and motioned to the only spare chair.

'Mind if I join you guys?' she asked. Alpha Force shook their heads and Kayla sat down.

'I just wanted to thank you all for the fabulous work you guys have done these past few days. I'm amazed that kids your age would even be interested in helping out here,' Kayla said.

'We like helping,' Li remarked. Kayla smiled, not realising just how true those words were.

'The world needs more people like you five. Animals have barely any rights these days. People treat them like pieces of meat.' Kayla paused and looked sadly out the window. 'Those dogs that came in just as you arrived this morning are one of the worst cases. They were dumped at a local tip. They'd served their purposes and then they were left to die.' She sniffed and blew her nose on a tissue.

'What exactly was their purpose, Kayla,' Amber asked softly.

'They were part of the drug and cosmetic testing industry. Those poor dogs were most likely sold by their owners to the companies for a few bucks. Can't keep your pet any more so sell it to people who'll lock it in a tiny cage and rub makeup in its eyes. Makes me sick.'

There was a shocked silence that hung over the table. Kayla blew her nose again and excused herself. Li was the first to speak.

'What jerks!' she fumed. 'How would they like it if someone did that to them?' She scowled and ground her teeth. Paulo put a soothing hand on her shoulder.

'We must do something', he said.

Amber had been unusually quiet. Hex glanced at her and then waved a hand in front of her face.

'Earth to Amber.'

Amber's head jerked up. 'We will do something. I know just the thing.'

'Ok. Are you all ready for my brilliant plan?' Amber asked. Her friends nodded.

'Hurry up, Amber. We've been waiting all day.'

Since Amber had had her brainwave at lunchtime, she had refused to say anything until after dinner. Now Alpha Force were sitting in a circle in the Craig's living room, waiting for Amber to reveal her plan.

'Don't make me strangle you,' Hex muttered as Amber stood up.

'Does anyone want a drink?' she said as she started to walk towards the door.

'NO!'

Amber laughed and returned to her seat. 'All right, all right. I'll tell you.' She paused and smiled mischievously. 'Now what was it again...?'

'Amber. I swear if you procrastinate any more I'll-' Alex clapped a hand over Hex's mouth, cutting him off.

'Go on, Amber. Or I'll let go of Hex.'

'Fine. My plan is this. We're going to get evidence of what some of these companies are doing to those poor animals. Two of us can get inside and film and take photos. Uncle John can contact some news stations and Hex could do something on the computer and wallah! Publicity will create awareness and awareness will help to fix the problem.' Amber finished and smiled at her friends. 'What do you think?'

'I'm not sure it will be as simple as that,' Alex ventured cautiously.

'Yeah. Getting the evidence may be a cinch, but as for making people care enough to get it shown on the news...' Li said quietly. 'Remember when we were in West Sahara? That was people, little kids, and no one cared. I'm not sure if they're going to care for animals if they won't bother for people.'

Amber remained silent. She was thinking, trying to rework her plan, but nothing else was coming up.

'We have to try,' she said eventually. 'Please.' Amber looked around at her four friends, pleading them with her eyes. Paulo, Li and Alex didn't say anything but when she looked at Hex, he cleared his throat.

'It's worth a shot, I suppose,' he muttered. Amber beamed and squeezed his arm.

'Thanks,' she murmured. Louder she said, 'Paulo? Li? Alex? Are you in?' They all nodded which made Amber's smile grow wider.

'Thank you guys, so much. You won't regret it.'

Alex smiled back but inside he was churning. _I hope so._

**Next chapter should be up fairly soon. **


	3. Chapter 2

**Zero action in this one. Bit of Amber/Hex, not that they realise. This is a bit more of a "set the scene" type of chapter and it also reveals an important factor in my plot. I've probably just given the whole chapter away so I'm going to shut up now and let you get on with reading. Cheerio!**

Amber crouched behind the bush, staring at the centre's doors.

'How are we gonna get in?' she murmured. 'Locked doors, no windows, security guards...' She rubbed her forehead in frustration.

Hex patted Amber's arm.

'Relax. We'll figure something out,' he attempted to soothe Amber. His words had no effect.

'Why, of all the friggin' research centres, we had to pick one with such tight security is completely beyond me,' she muttered.

'Because we like a challenge,' Hex said calmly as he peered at the white building through the binoculars. 'Also, with this much security, I'd say that they have something pretty big to hide. Bigger than animal testing.' Amber looked at Hex in surprise.

'What do you mean?' she asked him.

Hex put down the binoculars and turned on his palmtop. The small computer took just a few seconds to load and within two minutes, Hex was searching the 'net.

'Let me see,' he murmured to himself. 'Where did I...? Ah ha!' Hex spun the palmtop so that the screen was facing Amber.

'What am I looking at?'

'The screen, the screen.' Hex sounded exasperated. 'Look at the bloody screen.'

Amber looked at the screen and frowned.

'And...'

Hex gave a muffled cry and flicked Amber's head. 'Fine. I'll give you a brief summary,' he said shutting down the palmtop. Hex's photographic memory came into play as he mentally sorted through the thousands of pieces of information tucked in his head, trying to find the relevant ones. 'Righto. I'm not saying anything concrete, but a website that I found revealed that this centre has been under investigation quite a few times over the last couple of months. The police didn't find anything illegal, but that hasn't stopped them from keeping a very close watch on the centre.'

'What has that got to do with the price of fish?' Amber asked.

'Nothing. But it is rather suspicious don't you think? That by itself isn't the reason I wanted us to check up on this particular lab. Combine that with the fact that there has been an unusually large number of adoptions in this area and in the surrounding towns over the last few months, I think that warranted our attention.'

Amber was puzzled. 'What are you saying?'

Hex looked deadly serious. 'I'm saying that this lab is most likely using humans to test their drugs and cosmetics. I read that some country in the Middle East had a lab that used unwanted or orphaned babies to test new drugs.'

Amber gaped at Hex. 'Humans? Like people humans?'

'Didn't know there was any other kind.'

'But that's illegal!'

'So is drug running, people trafficking, poaching, stealing, breaking and entering, armed robbery, abduction, rape, murder, grievous bodily harm, assault... The list goes on. Just because something is illegal or wrong doesn't mean that no one is going to do it,' Hex said. Amber looked doubtful. 'Look. You don't have to believe me. I know I sound like a nut case and it sounds really far fetched when I say it out loud, but it's a possibility and I wanted to follow it up.'

Hex looked so deflated Amber gave him a hug. 'I'm not saying I don't believe you, but it is very unlikely. I'm still with you though if you do want to try and get to the bottom of this.'

Hex gave her a grateful smile and Amber felt her heart do a little somersault. She quickly picked up the binoculars and trained them on the centre. What was that? One minute she was fine, the next... _Oh please no,_ she thought frantically. _I am not in love with Hex. I don't even like him as a really good friend sometimes. He's annoying and too smart for his own good and... Ahhhhhhhh! Stop thinking! _Amber shook her head and focused on the centre again.

'Hello. What have we here?' she muttered.

'What?' Hex pushed in beside her, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. _Oh Christ! _Amber screamed silently.

'You mind giving me some room here?' she grumbled. Hex looked surprised and a bit hurt but he quickly wiped the expressions of his face. _What's up with her?_ he thought.

'Gee, Amber. You're not that fat!' He shuffled reluctantly over a few centimetres, but couldn't move any further due to their limited space. _You really didn't want to move, did you_? Hex groaned inwardly. Bloody voice. Lots of people had a little voice at the back of their mind but he was sure that none of them were as annoying as his. _Shut up!_ Hex mentally strangled the voice. _Just 'cause you can't hack it, hacker._ The voice seemed to giggle at its little joke and Hex blocked it out, turning all of his attention to the building that he and Amber were supposed to be watching.

'What did you say before?' he asked Amber. She had appeared to have gotten over how close he was to her and eagerly handed him the binoculars.

'Take a look. Down there by the back entrance.'

Hex pot the lenses to his eyes and focused on the spot Amber had mentioned.

'Well, well, well. What's going on down there?'

A large lorry had pulled up and several workers wearing blue and white jumpsuits were unloading medium sized crates from the van. The crates were covered but Hex's imagination was working rapidly.

'The perfect size for a small kid to fit in if they were crunched up,' he murmured. Amber overheard and quickly shook her head.

'Oh no. Don't you jump to conclusions. Now we will do as planned and meet back at the hotel to discuss this with the others. All right?' Hex didn't answer so Amber seized the binoculars and started to move back towards the quad bike. 'Come on!'

Hex cast one last look at the centre and frowned. Something was going on there and he was determined to find out.


	4. Chapter 3

**I had inspiration strike me and have written the first chapter of another Alpha Force fan fic. I haven't put it up yet and wanted to know whether people want me to wait until this fic is done before loading it or to put it up now. It doesn't matter to me either way. If I do load it, both fics should be updated fairly regularly as I have quite a few ideas. Untitled (gotta think of a good name. Suggestions welcome) could be short, I don't know, but my other fic should be fairly long. I feel confused just rereading that so I hope everyone understands. **

'Hex. Wait a minute.' Amber grabbed the back of Hex's t-shirt. He stopped and turned around. They were just outside the doors to Amber and Li's room at the Craig's house. Paulo, Alex and Li were already inside, waiting for Amber and Hex to turn up so that they could discuss their observations.

'What?'

'Don't say anything about your little, um... theory. About the kids being used,' Amber whispered.

Hex looked surprised. 'Why not?'

'Unless you have proper evidence, I don't see the point of making such a huge accusation.' Hex opened his mouth with an annoyed look on his face. 'Wait. Let me finish. I didn't say forget all about it. When we go in to get the evidence, we can go and have a poke around. No sense telling the others.'

Hex nodded but he was frowning. This didn't seem like Amber. He supposed that it didn't really matter much; she had offered to come with him to look around. _You're pleased, _his littlevoice taunted. Hex slapped his forehead. What had Alex said that was? His subconscious? Whatever it was it was driving the hell out of him. It had never bothered him in the past, but recently it was making itself known very regularly, and mostly on just one subject.

'Leave me alone,' Hex muttered as he followed Amber into her and Li's bedroom.

Paulo, Alex and Li looked at them expectantly.

'Well?' Li demanded. 'What did you see?'

'Nothing much. A lorry pulled up and they unloaded some covered cages off the back but that was about all. Heaps of security but we'll find a way to get in,' Amber said quickly. Hex nodded.

Li beamed. 'Awesome. Now we just have to work out how we're going to do this.'

* * *

Amber wriggled along on her stomach, Alex on her left and Hex on her right. Li and Paulo had left five minutes earlier, a goal in mind. They were planning on sneaking into the building and finding five jumpsuits.

'We'll look much less conspicuous in them than if we're wearing black and camouflage cream,' Li had reasoned. The others had agreed and now Alex, Hex and Amber were waiting for Paulo to test them and give them the all clear.

Alex's phone vibrated gently in his pocket. He checked it and nodded.

'Let's go.'

The three of them wriggled forward until they reached the edge of the bush cover.

'Ready?' Amber asked. They had picked the only area that was not regularly controlled by guards. 15 metres away was a shed where Li and Paulo had agreed to meet them.

'As I'll ever be,' Hex muttered, while Alex just nodded.

'Off we go.'

They ran quickly across the open space, feeling very vulnerable. Hex hadn't failed to notice the armed guards early that morning and he wasn't in any hurry to forget them. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the shed, but Hex's was the loudest. He still wasn't sure if he would ever get used to this courting danger stuff. He would much rather be in the relative safety of cyberspace.

Li and Paulo materialised out of the shadows, dressed in the spiffy jumpsuits and holding three more out to Alex, Amber and Hex.

'They're _sooooo _comfy and the height of fashion,' Li purred as she dumped the material in their hands. Alex considered his outfit and crinkled his nose.

'Gee, thanks,' he said, putting the jumpsuit on over his own clothes. Amber and Hex followed suit and soon they were emerging from the shed.

Paulo beckoned them over and they strolled confidently in through the centre's back doors. No one stopped them or even paid them the slightest bit of interest.

Amber hadn't forgotten her promise to Hex and once they were in the building she grabbed his arm.

'We'll have a look down there,' she said pointing to a staircase in the corner of the room. She tugged Hex in that direction, ignoring Li and Paulo's amused glances.

'Immature,' she muttered.

'What did you say?' Hex asked.

'Nothing. Let's hurry up a bit.' Amber clattered off down the stairs, Hex following close behind.

* * *

'Those two are too cute,' Li giggled once Amber and Hex had gone down the staircase. Paulo glanced at Li fondly and clasped his hands.

'Ah. Young love,' he said quietly. Alex rolled his eyes and tried to distract them from that subject. Hex had had a couple of little chats to him and he wanted to uphold his promise.

'Why don't we worry about them later? Right now we have a job to do.' He marched briskly across the room and down a corridor, blocking out the chuckles behind him. _Hex had better stop spending so much time with Amber if he wants to remain inconspicuous_, he thought. _Oh well. It's his problem I suppose._

* * *

Hex trailed after Amber, a growing sense of unease in his stomach.

'This doesn't feel right,' he murmured.

The corridor they were waling down was dimly lit and mouldy, hardly what you would expect to find in a high-tec, professional research centre. Amber slowed down and walked beside Hex.

'I know. It's almost like they want people to think that there's nothing down here,' she whispered. Hex couldn't stop an amused grin.

'You know what that means? There is definitely something here.' He paused. 'Why are we whispering?'

Before Amber could answer, they rounded a corner and stopped. A dead end.

'What the hell?' Amber said. 'It can't just stop.' Hex was studying the wall carefully.

'Maybe it doesn't. Stop I mean.' He pushed on the wall in different places and ran his hand along the sides and bottom of it. 'It could be a door. The question is, how do we open it?'

Retracing his steps and leaving Amber to watch the wall, Hex came across a slight dent in the wall, so obscure you wouldn't notice it unless you wee deliberately looking for something hidden.

'Bingo.' Pushing and prodding the dent, Hex eventually felt something give. Amber gave a squeak and came running back to Hex.

'You did it!' she cried. He smiled and they walked back to the "wall". The corridor continued and ended in another door. Pushing it open, Amber gave a gasp. Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes grew large.

'Oh my God,' she said, her voice starting to crack as she held in her tears. Hex put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him. She huddled against him and stared at what lay in front of her.

**Cliff hanger! I am so mean, but you might be able to guess what they have just found. Update could be soon. Review and tell me what you think and whether I should load my new fic. There might only be a few more chapters to this story but I am not exactly sure.**

**Emmalea**


	5. Chapter 4

'You were right,' Amber whispered. 'They're using kids.' She closed her eyes and counted to ten, hoping that when she opened them the horrifying sight would have evaporated. She had no such luck.

Lucky for Hex and Amber there were no guards or scientists in the room. The room wasn't that large but had around 20 medium or small cages lining the walls. Children between the ages of about one and eight lay or sat huddled up in the wire crates. They all had a vacant look in their eyes and seemed to look straight through Hex and Amber.

'These must be the kids we saw being unloaded this morning,' Hex murmured in Amber's ear as they walked into the room.

'Looks like they've been drugged,' she answered him softly.

A young boy about four years old was the only one who looked awake. He stared at Amber and Hex with wide, frightened eyes.

'What's your name, sweetie,' Amber asked him softly.

He blinked at her a few times then said slowly, 'Alfie'.

'Hi, Alfie. My name's Amber and this is Hex.' Amber smiled gently at him. All of a sudden, Alfie seemed to come out of his shell.

'Please help me,' he wailed. 'I hate it here. I want my mother.' Tears started to flow down his cheeks. Hex looked uncomfortable and Amber looked nervous.

'Shhhhh. We're going to help you, but you have to be quiet. Do you know where the scientists are?'

Alfie looked blankly at her, sniffling every now and then.

'He probably doesn't know what scientists are,' Hex said. 'People in white coats. With goggles and gloves.'

Alfie nodded and pointed towards the other end of the room. There was a metal door that they hadn't noticed before.

'Thanks, Alfie. We promise we'll come back for you. We won't leave you here,' Amber gently put her fingers through the bars of the cage and Alfie reached out to touch her. Amber felt tears well up at the back of her throat. Hex grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

'We better go,' he said softly. She nodded and reluctantly they moved towards the door, leaving Alfie sobbing quietly in his cage.

* * *

'Nothing. Nothing at all. These guys are completely legit! They don't even use animals. What was Hex on when he suggested this place?' Li was angry. They had wasted half an hour looking through a perfect building. There were no animals locked in tiny cages having stuff rubbed in their eyes, no dogs being butchered while they were still alive. Nothing.

'Speaking of Hex,' Alex said, 'where did he and Amber get to?'

'Do we really want to know?' Li answered dryly.

'You don't think they're in any danger, do you?'

'With our luck they probably finally admitted their undying love for each other, forgot about our mission and are in a broom clos-' Li ended abruptly as an alarm screamed through the building.

'I believe that is our signal to get out,' Paulo said. Alex and Li nodded and the three of them hurried to the exit.

'Wait a minute,' Alex called as he slid to a stop just before the exit. 'What about Amber and Hex?'

'They'll get out. They're probably already by the car,' Li reassured him and dragged him towards the door.

Alex cast a worried glance back into the depths of the centre, but it was too late. Li pulled him outside and the doors slammed shut. _They'll be fine_, he told himself. For some reason though, he doubted that very much.

* * *

Amber carefully nudged the door open and peered round the edge.

'It's another corridor. There are doors along either side.' She gulped. 'They look like cell doors.' Hex pushed the door all the way open and they crept into the corridor. Amber looked through the barred window of the first cell, then wished she hadn't.

'Oh, Hex,' she whispered. 'We have to do something.'

Hex stood next to her and looked through the window. Three little girls sat in a huddle, thin as sticks and pale as snow. They gave a whimper when they saw Amber and Hex's faces and shrank back into the shadows. That was when they noticed that one little girl was missing an arm, another had no eyes and the third had angry red welts covering her legs and face. Amber gave a sob and turned away. Hex wrapped his arms around her and she pressed herself against his chest.

Despite the terrible situation they were in and the awful sight they were witnessing, Hex couldn't help a little rush of happiness. Amber was clutching onto his t-shirt like a limpet. _Told you so,_ his subconscious taunted. Hex ignored it and tightened his arms around Amber. She looked at him, a tad embarrassed.

'Sorry.' She pulled away and looked at her feet, the door, the back wall, everywhere but at Hex.

'It's ok,' he said soothingly. Amber finally looked at him and he could see how scared she was. He put a hand on her arm.

'What's wrong?' His voice was filled with concern.

'We've walked into a building that uses kids as guinea pigs. No one else apart from Alex, Li and Paulo know where we are and they're in here too. What if something goes wrong? What do we do? How are we going to get these kids out? We can't just leave them here. Even if we get evidence, that may not stop their suffering. Until a news company or human rights organisation takes notice, they're still going to be injected with stuff and live in these cages or cells. We have to get them out now.' Amber was speaking softly but her voice was rising with panic. 'What are we going to do?'

Hex wanted to give Amber another hug but she pushed past him and hurried down the corridor.

'Amber,' he called quietly. 'Amber!' She disappeared around a corner and Hex sprinted to catch her up. 'Watch out for- Oof.' Hex ran round the corner and straight into the back of a guard. He whipped round and Hex saw Amber struggling in his grip. The guard had a beefy hand over her mouth but she struggled free.

'Go!' she gasped. 'Get out!'

Hex hesitated. He didn't want to leave Amber but knew that he had to get help. He bit his lip, turned on his heel and sprinted back the way he had come.

'We have a G19. I repeat, we have a G19.' The security guard was bellowing into his walkie talkie and Hex increased his speed.

'Gotta get out. Gotta get out,' he chanted as a piercing alarm echoed around him. He came to the room where they had found Alfie and Hex found himself having to fight. Three guards closed in and Hex punched one in the jaw. He gave a yell and buckled. The other two guards hesitated then made up their minds and leapt at him. Hex kicked and punched but it did no good. Within seconds he was being tied up and gagged.

The alarm still screamed.


	6. Chapter 5

Hex was bundled into a cage barely big enough for him to lay crunched up in. He was panting hard with sweat and blood trickling down his forehead. The blood came as a surprise and he felt his head gently trying to find a cut. Eventually he found a small gash just above his forehead. It wasn't bleeding that much any more and he quickly forgot about it. Where was Amber? Where were Li, Alex and Paulo? Had they gotten out? He punched the cage door in frustration and gave a sob. There was nothing he could do, for himself or his friends. He didn't know if they were ok. He didn't even know if _he_ was ok. What was going to happen to him? Hex rested his head in his hands and tried to fight back an overwhelming flow of defeat. _You can get through this. Think about Alpha Force's missions. You've all come out, mostly, unscathed. Fight back!_ Hex's subconscious was ignored and beaten back into a corner of his head. _Leave me alone_, he thought. _Let me think._

* * *

Amber fought like a demon. She tried out everything that Li had ever taught her, plus a few of her own, improvised moves. She actually managed to break one guard's nose and get free, but it was for only a few seconds. Seeing the guard yell in pain and hold his face gave her a small thrill of satisfaction though. _Take that you bastard!_ she thought. _That's for every kid you've ever hurt._

Once she had got free though, Amber knew it was a mistake. Immediately six more guards launched themselves at her and she was thrown onto the floor, bruised and winded. The fight went out of her and she was limply bundled into a cage. The cage was thrown onto a gurney and wheeled away.

* * *

Hex's head flicked up at the sound of the door being opened. Through half closed eyes he watched two scientists grab a cage and dump it next to his. They left quickly, pushing the gurney in front of them. He went to drop his head again when a small, frightened voice made him whip round to face the cage.

'Hex?'

He blinked in surprise. 'Amber?' The figure in the cage next to him looked nothing like the beautiful black American he knew. This figure was tiny and huddled, shaking in terror and trying to make herself as small as possible. Not one shred of her confident personality remained. 'Are you ok?'

'I-I think so.' She gave a small sniff. 'I broke a guard's nose.'

Hex smiled. 'That's my girl,' he said softly. The bars of the cage were wide enougth apart for him to get his fingers through. He stretched them out and Amber reached her fingers out from her cage. She gripped Hex's fingertips tightly and chewed her lip.

'What are we going to do?' she whispered.

'I don't know.'

* * *

'I think we have made a terrible mistake.' Paulo had been pacing back and forth along the ridge edge for the past fifteen minutes.

'I know. They should have got out by now.' Alex shifted position and gave the binoculars to Li. 'I think they've been captured.'

Li looked as if she was on the edge of tears. 'It's all our fault,' she wailed. Paulo stopped pacing and set down next to Li, putting his arms around her. She gave a strangled sob and leant against him.

'Shhhhh,' Paulo said softly. 'Crying will not save them.'

'But if we hadn't of run out but stayed...'

'Ok. If it is our fault that they did not get out, then it is our duty to rescue them.' Paulo stared stubbornly at the centre.

'Why would they want to capture them? It's not like the centre has anything even slightly illegal in there,' Alex wondered.

Li shifted. 'I hate to admit this, but I have a confession.'

Alex and Paulo swung towards her. 'What?'

'Ah. Well back at your house Alex, when you and Paulo popped into the kitchen to get the jug of water, I heard Amber and Hex talking outside the lounge room door.'

'You eavesdropped,' Alex said bluntly.

'Yes. No. I was just curious, that's all.'

'Still eavesdropping,' Alex muttered.

'Can I finish,' Li snapped. 'Any way. I overhead them and went a bit closer as their voices were slightly muffled. They were talking about some theory Hex had. That the centre was using kids as test subjects I think. Amber told Hex not to mention it to us because he didn't have evidence. She offered to go and look around with him when we got here. That's why they went off alone.'

Alex stared at Li with a look of utter annoyance on his face. 'You didn't think of mentioning this before?' he shouted. 'For the past fifteen minutes we've been sitting here, doing nothing while they could be having needles injected into them. What were you thinking?' Alex glared at Li who burst into tears. Paulo shot Alex a furious look and put his arms around Li again.

'That was a bit harsh,' he said.

'Well why didn't she mention it?'

'I'm sorry, Alex. Sorry if I'm not perfect. Everyone makes mistakes.' Li's voice was muffled by Paulo's shoulder.

'Yes, Li. It's fine to make mistakes if they aren't going to cost someone their life,' Alex replied in a strained voice. He looked at Li's tear streaked face and his expression softened. 'Sorry.'

Li sniffed and pulled away from Paulo. 'No. You're right. It is my fault. And I'm going to fix it. I'm going to get them out.'

'We're coming.' Alex felt his last bit of anger at Li slide away. He probably wouldn't have thought it that big a deal as well, especially if he had heard it through a closed door. He would have thought he'd misheard. Alex wasn't normally a touchy-feeling person but he gave Li a quick hug. 'Now let's go get them out.'

* * *

Four scientists came bustling back in with another two gurneys. They frowned and muttered, glancing at clipboards and into the various cages. Hex felt Amber tighten her grip on his fingers. He swallowed and tried to look as small and sickly as possible.

The scientists walked down to the other end of the room and he let out a gush of air.

'No,' Amber cried, forgetting to act inconspicuous.

Hex turned his head, eyes wide. 'What's wrong?'

With a sob, Amber pointed to where the scientists were loading a small cage onto one gurney. Hex frowned as he tried to see the small figure inside. As the gurney came closer he gasped.

'Alfie,' he whispered.

The little boy was clinging to the bars of his cage with desperation. His blue eyes pleaded with the scientists but they stared straight ahead. He caught sight of Amber and Hex and frowned. Suddenly recognition showed on his face and he mewed with fear, stretching his skinny little arms as far out of the cage as possible. A scientist touched a little stick to his arm and Alfie yelped in pain, quickly pulling his arms back into the cage, like a turtle retreating into its shell.

'Amber,' he called. 'Hex. Help me. I don't want a needle.' The gurney disappeared through the doors and Amber collapsed in her cage.

'We promised him,' she sobbed. 'How can we help him if we're trapped in here?' Hex was about to try and calm her down when a masked face appeared in front of his cage.

'This one as well.' The face disappeared to be replaced by a white lab coat as three scientists grabbed hold of his cage and swung it onto the gurney. His fingers were ripped from Amber's grasp. She gave a cry and started to swear at the scientists. They didn't even raise their eyebrows but strapped Hex's cage to the gurney and started to push it away.

'Hex!' Amber called.

Her only answer was the gentle creak of the swinging doors.


	7. Chapter 6

**Really sorry this took so long. It has been ready for about five days but our internet stuffed up and has only just started working again.**

'Let me go you freaks!' Hex tried to tip his cage off the trolley but it was securely strapped down. The scientists ignored him, obeying their training. They continued to push the gurney towards the lab, hurrying as a radio crackled to life and an angry voice hissed at them.

'Will you hurry up? How long does it take to grab a cage and bring it to me? I have to test the formula AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!' The radio hummed quietly for a few seconds before falling silent. Hex felt a shock of fear as the scientists pushed the gurney through a pair of white swing doors and into the lab. Stainless steel tables were dotted about the room and in a far corner a few cages with small children crouched inside were stacked on top of each other.

The gurney was shoved up against a table towards the back of the room. They unstrapped his cage and plonked it on the table. A male scientist with grey hair and pale skin prodded Hex's cage with a bony finger.

'What do we have here?' he cackled. 'It's not everyday we get an older specimen.' Hex growled at him and spat. Specimen! They were talking about him like he was some... _experiment_! 'Feisty, isn't he?' The scientist smiled at Hex.

'What shall we do with him now, Dr Farrell?' A young woman in a white lab coat and gloves wandered up to the table and studied Hex critically.

'Give him the mild sedative or we won't be able to get him out of there,' Dr Farrell replied. 'This test should be _very _interesting.'

* * *

Amber stifled her tears. She had to get out of here. Looking about at the other cages she corrected herself. _I have to get myself, Hex and about twenty little kids out of here. _Remembering the three little girls in the cell, Amber groaned in frustration. _Probably even more than twenty._ Her first priority was to find Hex. He would, hopefully, be able to help her get the kids out. Much better than attempting this on her own. But before she could go looking for Hex, she had to get out of this stupid cage.

The cages weren't tied down, probably because the scientists had only planned on holding kids under the age of eight in them. Amber took a big breath. If this didn't work she would have only succeeded in creating a number of problems for herself.

'Here goes nothing,' she said quietly before rocking her cage. For a few moments it teetered, before crashing off the shelf and onto the floor. The drop was about a metre and it jarred her bones and made her gasp with the shock.

In their cages, the little kids whimpered with fright.

'Shhhhh.' Amber was trying to roll her cage backwards in order to be able to get at the door. Some of the really little children started to cry. 'It's ok. I'm going to help you.' She finally managed to get her cage back upright. With a grin she realised that her plan had worked; the lock had broken and the door swung free.

Pushing it open, Amber had difficulty climbing out. The doorway was fairly small and her muscles were cramped from her time in the cage. When she finally did mange to get out, her legs spasmed painfully and she had to force herself to walk. After a few minutes they were almost back to normal apart from an occasional twinge. While the pain had been terrible, Amber was almost grateful to it; while she had been doubled over, rubbing her legs, she had spotted a second door, painted the same colour as the room.

'I'll be back, kids. I promise.' She set off towards the door after putting her cage back on the shelf and trying to fix the dor up. To a casual observer, it would seem to be just another empty cage, not one that someone had just broken out of.

After pushing open the door, Amber hesitated. No one had bothered to check if she was carrying a phone, so she still had her mobile in her pocket. It would be so easy to just call the police, but something Hex had said stopped her. The centre had been under investigation for the past few months, but nothing had come up. A few months would be enough time for someone to find the hidden door which meant that the centre had help from someone high up in the police force. No way was she going to chance the police. She could call Alex, Paulo or Li but what good would that do? They couldn't just come barging in here; they'd be captured as well. No. She scrapped her old plan of trying to find Hex first, even though she felt awful about not trying to see if he was ok. The best plan would be follow the tunnel and see where it lead. If it ended up outside the centre, she could call the others and get them to help her with the kids. Once they were safe they could get Hex out.

A goal in mind, Amber moved purposefully along the white tunnel, her way illuminated by low-wattage fluorescent lights. The tunnel twisted and curved its way slowly upwards until Amber finally reached a set of steps. They led up to a wooden trapdoor. She climbed the steps slowly and pushed against the hatch, coughing as dust and cobwebs rained down on her. It seemed that no one had used this exit for a while, which worked in with her plan perfectly.

The last rays of sun filtered weakly towards her as the hatch finally gave way and flew open. Amber blinked in the dim light and breathed in huge gasps of fresh air. She stopped after a minute or so and quickly tried to orientate herself. She was about fifty metres away from the centre, on the side of a small hill facing away from the building. She gazed about the space around her and nodded happily. There was enough space to hide two vans behind the hill and no one should see them.

Pulling out her phone, Amber dialled Alex's number and waited impatiently. Why wasn't he picking up? Surely they wouldn't have tried to go back in the centre. Amber's eyes grew wide and she felt her heart leap into her mouth as she realised that she wasn't even a hundred percent sure that her three friends had gotten out. Just as Amber was about to hang up, Alex's familiar accent rang down the line.

'Hello?'

'Alex! It's Amber.'

She heard him let out a huge gust of air. 'Thank God! Are you and Hex ok?'

Amber felt tears well up and she struggled to not start wailing. 'Um...'

'Amber? What's happened?'

'I don't have time to explain, but in a nutshell Hex had this-'

'Theory. We know about it. Kids being used as experiment subjects. He was right wasn't he?'

'How do you know about that?'

'Li heard you and him talking.'

'She eavesdropped?! That little-'

'Now, now. It's been and gone. Let's just all be thankful that you and Hex are ok.' Alex frowned as Amber fell silent. 'Amber? Has something happened to Hex?'

She couldn't hold back the tears any longer. 'We were captured and shoved in these little cages and then these scientists came over with a trolley and Hex was taken away and I don't know what happened to him and there's all these little kids that need help and-' Amber was sobbing and, combined with her fast paced speech, Alex could barely understand her.

'Where are you?' Alex tried to calm Amber down but it seemed that he wasn't having much of an effect. She quickly told him her rough position in relation to the centre. 'We're on our way.'

* * *

Hex didn't even see the needle coming. Before he knew what was happening, he felt a searing pain in his arm and a scientist was pulling a needle out. Hex's eyes grew wide and he froze. _What the hell did they just stick in me?_ he screamed in his head. _Just be calm, Hex. Everything is ok. _His subconscious was back. Just as he was about to mentally throttle it, his vision swam and he teetered to the left a bit. Shaking his head, he grabbed the bars, trying to stay upright. His vision cleared but he felt so deflated, so calm.

A few minutes later the door of his cage was opened and he was pulled roughly out. He didn't even register it and felt like he was separate from his body, detached and watching from above. The scientists strapped him down on the table, securing his arms and legs tightly before placing a strap around his stomach.

'There we are. He's all your's Dr Farrell.' The voice sounded far away and Hex blinked. He felt slightly more awake and alert but still not his usual self. _What did they say?_ His brain struggled to remember what they had said that they'd give him. _What was it? Sedative. That's it. Mild sedative. _Hex was half aware of the sudden emptiness about him; all the scientists had left, waiting for the sedative to wear off before beginning the test. He felt suddenly alone and very afraid.

* * *

'Amber!' Li threw herself at Amber and gave her a huge hug. 'Oh my God, I'm so glad you're alright.' Amber hugged her back and felt fresh tears prick at the back of her eyes. Li pulled back and saw Amber's face. 'Don't worry,' she said softly. 'We'll get him out.' Amber nodded not trusting herself to speak.

Paulo and Alex were inspecting the tunnel.

'Where does this lead to?' Alex asked, turning around to face the two girls.

'This storeroom type thing with about twenty kids in cages.' Amber sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. 'Why?'

'I have an idea.'


	8. Chapter 7

Hex had found that he was able to think more clearly. The sedative must have started to wear off. Dr Farrell reappeared and stood beside the table, frowning down at Hex.

'Prepare the injection,' he barked at a passing scientist. 'He's coming round.'

Hex's muscles involuntarily tightened. What injection were they going to give him? He couldn't help but feel completely terrified; this was a research centre therefore the injection he was about to receive had probably never been tested before. The consequences were vast and possibly deadly. He was distracted from his own problems when he tuned in to the conversation that Dr Farrell was having with another scientist.

'We've got another older one out in the storage room, sir. A girl.'

'Really? Any relation to this one?' Dr Farrell jabbed his finger in Hex's direction.

'Not even a slight chance. She's black and has an American accent. They seemed to know each other though.'

Dr Farrell's eyes narrowed. 'Are you absolutely positive that they both came with the last shipment?'

'Yes, sir.' The scientist was looking about nervously, as though searching for an escape route.

'Why, then,' Dr Farrell grated, 'is she American?'

'We've had American orphans before, sir. They move over here with their parents, the parents die, there are no living relatives or any guardians laid out... Quiet often orphanages over here take them in. Sir.'

Dr Farrell frowned and narrowed his eyes at Hex. 'Where's this one from?'

'Sounds like London, sir.'

'London? And you said that they appear know each other?' He paused. 'How well would you say?'

'Quite well from the way they were acting. Very close.' The scientist cleared his throat, not liking the way that the conversation was going.

'So, Hunter. One is from America, the other is from London. They know each other and seem to be very close. What would that tell me?'

'I-I don't k-know, sir,' Hunter stuttered.

Dr Farrell was on the verge of answering and possibly strangling his employee when a scientist bustled up carrying the vaccine.

'Here you are, Dr Farrell,' she panted. 'Got it as fast as I could. Straight from upstairs.'

'Batch number 6B?' Dr Farrell picked up the vial of vaccine and peered at it.

'Yes, sir.'

'Thank you, Alloway. Go and see if Dr Hascot needs any help with her tests.' Alloway scuttled off. Hunter started to slink away but Dr Farrell stopped him with a stern glare. 'I said Alloway, Hunter.'

'Oh. Right. Do you need my help, sir?'

'What do you think?' the doctor snapped. 'Of course not. But having you here, next to me where I can keep an eye on you, will minimise the possibility of _another_ explosion.' Hunter dropped his eyes to the floor and circled his foot, nervously. 'Clear?' Dr Farrell turned to look at the young scientist.

'Yes, Dr Farrell.' Hunter kept his eyes downcast.

Dr Farrell dropped his voice so Hex couldn't hear. 'Make yourself useful; talk to our subject. Find out all that you can about him and the other girl in storage. I have a bad feeling that they're not from the last shipment.' He stepped back and raised his voice again. 'That idiot Alloway had messed up the vaccines. I'll be back.' The doctor strode away, muttering, 'If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. When I get my hands on that girl...'

Hunter smiled tentatively at Hex. 'Hi.'

Hex felt sorry for the young scientist but he wasn't willing to be friendly. No matter how badly treated he was, he was still a part of this horrific practise. He glared at Hunter. The scientist stepped backwards and fiddled with the edge of the table.

'What's your name?'

'Like I'd tell you,' Hex spat.

'I'm just doing my job. No need to get angry at me.' He leant closer to Hex and whispered, 'Word of warning. Don't try any funny business or the girl will pay.'

'Get away from me.' Hex turned his head away from Hunter but felt nervous all of a sudden. What if he was telling the truth?

'I've seen it before. Twin girls came in here. Eight years old they were. One escaped and tried to set fire to the building. Dr Farrell caught her and made her watch her sister get eaten alive by some of his experiments.' Hunter shuddered. 'I can still hear her screaming.'

Hex rolled his eyes, convinced that the scientist was neither telling the truth or completely sane. He tuned out Hunter and looked at as much of the lab as possible. From his rather constricted position on the table, he couldn't see much. The door that he had been wheeled through was directly behind him. To his left and right were more tables, some empty and others with small children strapped down on them. 'I gotta get out of here,' he muttered.

Dr Farrell strode towards them, the correct vaccine clutched in his hand. 'Finally!' he exclaimed. 'We can get underway.' He prepared the injection before leaning over Hex, a wicked smile on his face. 'Don't move.'

Before Hex had time to react, the needle slid under his skin and Dr Farrell was pushing the plunger down, flooding his bloodstream with the vaccine. Within seconds the injection was over and Dr Farrell was standing up, dropping the used hypodermic in a bin by his feet.

'There,' he cooed. 'That wasn't so bad.' He gave a smirk before yelling, 'Hunter! Move you arse!' He strode off, Hunter cowering behind him.

Hex lay on the table, his eyes closed, wondering what was going to happen to him now.

* * *

'So what's this plan of your's, Alex?' Li asked.

'It's very simple. We get a van and hide it down here. We can get the kids out and voila!' He smiled sheepishly. 'Does sound kinda crap, doesn't it?'

'No, no.' Li paced anxiously. 'It's a good start. We can use the van idea. That's good.'

'What about Hex?' Paulo reminded them.

'We get him out too.' Alex's jaw was set stubbornly. 'No one is going to be left behind.'

'How?' Three heads turned towards Amber in surprise. She had been so quiet that they had almost forgotten she was there. 'He was taken away by some scientists. I don't know where they took him.'

'We find Hex, _then_ we get him out,' Li said.

'I'll go find a van.' Paulo got up and jogged off into the night, leaving Alex, Amber and Li to carry out the other tasks.

'I know this seems harsh,' Li said,' but I think we should concentrate on getting the kids out and then focus on Hex.' Alex and Amber nodded reluctantly. 'We will get him out though,' she added, seeing the look on Amber's face. 'Promise.'

'We should go and have a look. Start getting some of the kids out before Paulo gets back.' Alex walked over to the trapdoor and peered inside. 'Am I going first?'

'Go for it.' Li gave Alex a gentle push and followed him down into the tunnel, Amber close behind her.

'Follow it until you get to the end,' Amber said in a low voice. 'When you get to the doors wait. I'm not sure whether there will be any scientists or guards in there. Li and Alex nodded before starting down the tunnel.

No one spoke until they reached the doors.

'Ready?' Alex opened the door a crack but it was impossible to see everything.

'Ready.' Li moved into a fighting stance, prepared to defend herself should the need arise. Amber nodded and Alex pushed the door open. They froze but the only sound was the slightly muffled sniffs of seriously scared children.

'I think it's clear,' Alex murmured. He cautiously stepped into the storage room, an angry frown settling on his face. 'What the hell?'

'It's awful, isn't it,' Amber said sadly as she and Li joined Alex in the centre of the storage room.

'How could someone do this?' Li hissed. She looked around her. Out of the twenty or so kids in the room, only eight appeared to be awake. The others lay in their cages, completely still. 'They probably just want to forget about it all.'

Alex felt sick. He moved towards the nearest cage and peered in at the little girl huddled in the back. 'Oh no.'

'What?' Li didn't like the tone of Alex's voice.

'I don't think they're sleeping.' His eyes scanned the room, searching for something to pick the lock with.

Amber read his expression and moved towards the main door that she and Hex had come through. 'Here's a key. It might open all the padlocks; they all look similar.'

Alex caught the key and quickly unlocked the padlock. He gingerly reached his hand in and tried to find a pulse on the tiny girl's wrist. He tried her other wrist and finally her neck, just under her jaw. Alex withdrew his hand and shook his head. Nothing.

'What about the others?' Amber's voice was barely a whisper.

Alex was already opening cages. 'Check their pulses. I have a really bad feeling about this.'

**Sorry if it's kinda short but the next chapter should be up soon. My two brothers and mum are going away to Noosa on the weekend with my Nanna so I shall have a chance to work uninterrupted. Once school starts again (only three days; argh!) updates should be fairly slow as I shall have **_**tonnes**_** of school work. **


	9. Chapter 8

Amber and Li moved from cage to cage, checking for pulses and finding none.

'They were fine half an hour ago,' Amber wailed.

Li put her arms around Amber and gave her a hug. 'They must have given them all injections, either when you left or earlier today. It must have been too much for their bodies.'

'Look on the bright side,' Alex said as he came up to them. 'Eight kids are still looking ok. We can get them out easier as well; eight empty cages is a lot less suspicious than twenty.'

'There are some more in cells out that door.' Amber pointed towards the double doors at the other end of the room. 'Me and Hex were heading along the corridor there when we were caught.' Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of what might be happening to Hex right now, but she quickly blinked them away. She had to focus on helping these kids. 'Should we go let them out first or take these kids out?'

'These kids,' Alex answered decisively. 'We can come back and get them when we get Hex.'

Li took the key off Alex and walked towards the nearest cages. Two girls who looked about seven years old, blinked at her. 'Hi,' Li said brightly. 'I'm Li. When I open up your cages, I want you to be very quiet and to go over to the blonde haired guy over there.' Li pointed towards Alex who was standing by the open door.

'Where are we going?' one of the girls asked. Her voice was high with fright.

'Somewhere safe. Away from here.' Li unlocked her cage and helped her out. She stood awkwardly beside Li, her leg muscles stiff from her time in the cage. When Li let out the second girl, they gripped hands tightly and tottered over to Alex who ushered them into the tunnel and told them to wait quietly.

Amber had found a second key in a discarded lab coat. She let three young boys out and told them to go wait with Alex before moving on to the final cage. On the opposite side of the room, Li was opening the cages of two small girls. They looked similar and could have been sisters. Amber turned back to her cage and unlocked the door. The girl shrunk into the far corner of the cage was the youngest Amber had seen in here. She looked about two and was shaking in fright. Amber didn't want to frighten her any more but Alex was gesturing frantically to her. She had to hurry up.

'Sorry, sweetie,' Amber murmured before reaching inside the cage and pulling the little child out. She wriggled for a moment and whimpered, before seeming to realise that Amber wasn't going to harm her. With her thumb in hr mouth, the toddler snuggled close to Amber and fell asleep.

'You have a magical touch, Amber,' Li laughed as Amber came around the door, the sleepy child cradled in her arms.

Amber smiled but it was forced. 'We should be going.'

Li led the way up the tunnel, the seven children trailing behind her. Amber and Alex walked side by side at the rear.

When they reached the trapdoor, the children started to look really excited. They murmured to each other and grinned. Once outside, they realised that Paulo wasn't back yet.

'I guess we wait,' Li said sitting down on the grass. She had an idea and turned to the seven kids sitting awkwardly a few metres away. 'Hey guys. Do you want to play a game?'

* * *

Hex didn't feel too bad. He was still conscious and had a clear head. Nothing hurt any more than it had before and he didn't appear to be coming out in a rash or anything. Maybe everything would be alright. 

'Take him to a cell, now.' Dr Farrell poked Hex in the chest. 'Leave him for an hour or so then bring him back in here and we'll do some tests.'

Two scientists hurried to obey their boss. They gave Hex another sedative, waited a few minutes for it to work and bundled him onto the gurney, not even bothering with straps.

On the way down the corridor to the cells, Hex mentally hit himself. _Come on! Move. This is your chance. _His body refused to listen to him and he cursed under his breath. _Lazy lump! MOVE!_

'See you later, sunshine!' one of the scientists trilled as he was pushed off the trolley and into the cell. Hex felt himself clawing back control over his body, but there was nothing he could do. The cell door slammed shut and he could hear a padlock being fitted to the door.

Within five minutes, Hex was fully alert again. He had tried the door and looked all about him for any sign of a weak concrete block or a drain... anything. He swore in frustration then gasped and clutched his side, falling to his knees as the pain hit him. It felt like someone had shoved a knife in his side. Hex wondered if this was what Li felt like when she was stabbed by the Scorpion. The pain passed but was back again a few minutes later. Hex felt himself blacking out and struggled to stay awake. He had to get out. With a sigh, Hex slumped on the concrete floor and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

As Paulo pulled up, he couldn't help smiling. Li was sitting in a circle with seven little kids, an eighth on her lap. The kids were smiling and looking really happy. Li heard the van and looked up in shock before smiling back in return. She got the kids up and ushered them out of the way so Paulo could park the van. 

As he cut the ignition, Li pulled open his door and beamed in welcome. 'Hi! Come meet some new friends of mine.'

Paulo got out of the van and walked across to the cluster of children huddle don the ground. They had lost their happy expressions and were looking absolutely terrified. 'Poor things,' he murmured.

Li heard him and smiled sadly. 'You have no idea.' She raised her voice. 'It's ok, guys. This is Paulo. He's going to drive us all out of here.' By this time they had reached the little group. 'Introductions,' Li said. 'Freya, Keira, Hamish, Luke, Josh, Sophia, Phoebe and Mia.'

Paulo nodded and smiled. 'I'll try to remember.' He looked about him and frowned at Li. 'Where are Amber and Alex?'

'They left me here to baby sit while they went and to get some other kids out and find Hex.' Li looked at the van. 'Will that be big enough to get us all out?'

'How many more kids are there?' Paulo asked.

'Don't know. Amber said there could be ten or more, plus this eight, plusus five.'

'_Dios_,' Paulo said. 'I should have got a truck.'

'There would have been more but over half the kids had died by the time we got there.' Tears brimmed in Li's eyes and Paulo gave her a hug. She held onto him and sniffed. 'What sort of people are they?'

* * *

Amber crept down the corridor towards the first cell, Alex right beside her. Amber signalled to Alex to wait and she peered inside the first cell, expecting to see the three young girls again. It was empty. Feeling very confused, Amber moved on to the next cell. Again it was empty. Alex was looking into the cells on the opposite side of the corridor with the same results. 

'What happened to them?' Amber wondered.

'It feels too... quiet.' Alex reached another cell and looked inside. He didn't register what was on the floor and turned away. A frown crossed his face. 'Hang on.' He whipped back around and stared at the figure crumpled on the concrete floor. 'Amber, quick. Give me the key. It's Hex.'

**How I love torturing Hex! I've just realised that in almost all of my fics, he is in some sort of life threatening danger. For my next fic, which may or may not happen depending on my brain/imagination and how it feels about the whole idea (for a brief description check out my profile) I shall put another character in danger, just to have a change of pace. **


	10. Chapter 9

**Apologies if this chapter may seem to move a bit haphazardly. My dogs were driving the hell out of me and I had to keep dashing away from the computer to tell my puppy to be quiet. **

Amber gasped and jammed the key into Alex's hand. He fumbled with the padlock before finally getting it to spring open. They pushed on the heavy door, stumbling into the cell.

'No,' Amber whispered as she saw Hex's still body. She knelt by his head, tears in her eyes. 'What do we do?'

Alex shook his head, wishing Paulo was with them. 'I don't know. He must have been given a new drug.'

'We have to get him out of here.' Amber stroked Hex's cheek, willing his eyes to open.

'How?' Alex felt angry. Not at Hex but at himself. He had no idea how to get Hex out or what to do next. 'We can't carry him out.'

'A gurney,' Amber said. 'There are a couple of gurneys in the storage room.'

Alex nodded, relived to have a plan and something to do, before running out of the cell.

Amber squeezed Hex's hand tightly. 'Don't worry, Hex. You're going to be ok.' She willed Alex to hurry up. As though he heard her, Alex appeared in the door way, a rickety old gurney in front of him.

'Let's get him out of here.' Alex moved into the room and knelt next to Amber. A frown crossed his face as he looked at Hex's chest. Alex put a hand just in front of Hex's mouth and his eyes widened as he felt no breath.

Amber read his expression and shoved him out of the road before starting CPR on Hex. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she pushed on his chest. 'Come on, Hex! Don't you dare die on me.' With increased desperation, Amber did the compressions.

Alex watched. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life. All he could do was sit and watch, hoping that Hex would start breathing again. He had no idea how long Amber had been doing the CPR but he felt sure that Hex should have started breathing by now. 'Amber.' He touched her arm. She shook him off. Alex grabbed Hex's wrist and felt for a pulse. He checked again. Panic grabbed Alex's heart. 'Oh God,' he wailed.

Amber's tear streaked face turned towards him. 'What?' Her eyes fell to Alex's hand, still gripping Hex's wrist. She shook her head in disbelief. 'No way. He can't...'

'Amber,' Alex repeated. 'We can't do anything else.'

'No,' Amber sobbed again, still performing CPR. 'He's not dead. He can't be.'

Alex gently pulled her away from Hex. She gave a sob and buried her face in his shoulder. 'It's ok. It's ok.' He put his arms around her and looked at the still body of Hex, knowing that it was anything but ok.

* * *

Paulo had been studying the faces of the kids. They were all exhausted and some of them still had a haunted look about them. He grabbed some blankets from the passenger seat and spread them out in the back of the van, making a thick surface for them to lie down on. 

Li wandered over and smiled at his handiwork. 'Perfect.' She craned her neck to see out of the van and called, 'Bedtime!'

Eight tired youngsters staggered over to the van. Freya was gripping Keira's hand tightly, not wanting to let go of her younger sister for a second. The three boys seemed to have the most energy; they grinned at Li and Paulo before jumping up into the van. Sophia was matching her pace to Phoebe, watching the older girl carrying little Mia. Phoebe was only eight and was having trouble holding onto the heavy toddler. Li hurried towards her and gently lifted the sleeping child from Phoebe's arms. She smiled reassuringly at the two girls and led them back to Paulo and the van.

'Hop in.' Paulo gave the two little girls a dazzling smile and they giggled.

Li rolled her eyes and would have pushed Paulo if she hadn't been carrying Mia. 'Don't make his head any bigger,' she warned. With difficulty she joined the kids in the van and sat down in a corner, Mia in her lap. Around her, the other children were settling down, relived to be able to sleep peacefully and fully stretched out for the first time in weeks.

Paulo climbed in the van and sat next to Li. She leant against him and sighed, hoping that Alex and Amber had found Hex and were on their way out.

* * *

Alex frowned. Was that a slight movement of Hex's chest? Or had he just been imagining it? Still holding onto Amber, he stretched his hand out and felt for a pulse again. His face broke into a huge grin. It was very weak and beating erratically, but Hex was alive. 

Amber seemed to notice Alex's change in mood. She pulled away from him and stared at Hex. 'He's breathing,' she exclaimed.

Alex had kept his fingers on Hex's wrist, monitoring his pulse. 'It's getting stronger and steadier.'

Amber smiled and stood up. 'We have to get him out to Paulo as soon as possible.'

Together, she and Alex picked Hex's limp body up and placed him on the gurney.

'We better move.' Alex moved to the front end of the gurney and manoeuvred it out of the cell before grabbing the side of it. 'Ready?'

'Yep.'

The old gurney moved surprisingly fast and steady. In no time at all they were in the tunnel, speeding towards the trapdoor and freedom. When they reached the steps, Alex put poked his head out and swivelled it, trying to see Paulo and Li. 'Hello?' he called. 'Could do with some help here.'

Two grinning peered back at him. They spotted Hex lying on the gurney and Amber's distraught face and the grins vanished.

'What the hell happened?' Li asked, shocked.

'We think Hex was used as a test subject.' Alex moved out of the way to let Li and Paulo down. 'Can you give us a hand getting him up top? Then I think we need your medical expertise, Paulo.'

When Hex was lying on a blanket on the grass, Paulo carefully checked him over. His three friends watched in tense silence, hoping that Hex was going to be ok. When Paulo eventually stood up, a smile on his face, they all let out sighs of relief.

'He should be fine. I don't know what they gave him and we should get him to a doctor once this is all over, but his breathing and heart rate are normal. He should regain consciousness soon as well.' Paulo grabbed another blanket and covered Hex up, making sure he was warm. They had been going to put him in the van but decided that he'd be better off outside as it was very crowded in the vehicle.

Amber turned to look at the van and was surprised to see four faces peering out of the open door. She walked over to them and they looked at her with huge eyes.

'Is he going to be ok?' Hamish asked in a small voice.

'Yep. He'll be fine.' She smiled at the little boy, but she was puzzled. Why did he look so familiar? Amber felt like she'd forgotten something but Josh's next comment made her completely tune out to her intuition.

'My brother was taken away by the frog people. I haven't seen him since then.' Josh looked sadly at Amber, as if she held the answer to where his brother had gone. She gave him a hug, feeling sick. She had a very good idea of where his brother had gone and she did not want to have to tell a six year old kid.

'Li said we were going somewhere safe,' Sophia piped up.

'We will,' Amber reassured her. 'As soon as Hex wakes up we'll get out of here.' This time she couldn't help frowning. What had she forgotten?

Hamish saw her frown and his eyes went wide. 'What?'

'Nothing.' She smiled again and looked at Hamish. What had she forgotten? Something about Hamish reminded her of-

'Amber!' Li bounded up and threw her arms around her friend. 'Hex is waking up!'

Amber hurried towards Hex, a huge grin on her face. Hex turned slightly as he heard her footsteps approaching and smiled weakly. 'Hi.' As Amber sat down next to Hex, Li casually moved away. Paulo and Alex took the hint and followed her. They walked down to the van, ushering the kids inside, before climbing in and shutting the door.

Amber shook her head and said slowly, 'We thought you were dead.'

'Takes more than an untested vaccine to kill me.' Hex grinned, feeling much better. It was so strange; one minute he had been unconscious, struggling to live and the next he felt relatively normal. _What a weird drug_, he thought.

'I'm glad,' Amber whispered, squeezing Hex's hand.

'Me too.'

**You didn't really think I'd kill Hex, did you? How could I? Without him, Alpha Force would be Alpa Force, which hardly sounds impressive. More like a secret society for alpacas. **


	11. Chapter 10

**Sorry this has taken a while but not only have I been back at school (nooooooooooooooooooo) but I hit a wall and had no ideas. No. That's not entirely true. I had ideas but they wouldn't work and I didn't know how I was going to write them. But here it is, the promised update. Read it and see what you think. **

Dr Farrell stalked down the corridor towards his office. His face was fixed in a scowl and his hands were clenched at his sides. A young trainee hurried towards him from the opposite end of the corridor with a tentative smile on her face.

'Away!' Dr Farrell barked as she opened her mouth. The trainee clamped her jaw shut and scurried past Dr Farrell.

Arriving in his office, Dr Farrell slumped in his chair and put his hands on his desk in front of him. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a nervous looking woman was in front of him. If Dr Farrell was surprised, he didn't show it.

'What the hell do you want?' he snapped.

'I'm afraid I have some bad news, sir.' The woman wrung her hands together and shifted her wait from one foot to the next. Her pale blue eyes flickered from side to side as though wishing she was anywhere but in her boss's office.

'What?' Dr Farrell groaned inwardly and stared at the woman.

'One of the subjects has escaped, sir.'

'One of the subjects has escaped...?' Dr Farrell's voice was surprisingly calm. The woman began to relax. 'One of the subjects...' So fast she barely saw him move, Dr Farrell leapt up and leaned over his desk so he was just inches from the woman's face. His calm voice was gone. 'HOW DID A SUBJECT ESCAPE AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING STANDING AROUND- GO AND FIND IT!'

'I'm sorry, sir,' the woman quavered as she backed out of them room.

'ANSWER MY QUESTION, YOU INSOLENT LITTLE WORM!' Dr Farrell was shouting at the top of his voice. A vein in his head, pulsed, looking like it was going to pop at any second.

'What question, sir?' The woman had her back to the wall and was shaking in fear.

'HOW ON EARTH DID THE SUBJECT ESCAPE?'

'We don't know, sir. The door was open.' She added, as an afterthought, 'It was the boy you injected a few hours ago, sir.'

'FIND HIM AND BRING HIM TO ME ALONG WITH THE IMBECILE WHO LET HIM ESCAPE!' He sat back down at his desk as the woman hurried from the room. His head hurt and he put a finger to each temple before taking to two Aspirin from his desk and swallowing them. _How did he manage to escape?_ Dr Farrell frowned as he remembered that the cells could only be opened from the outside. _So he must have had help. But from who?_ The doctor frowned as he thought back to the conversation between him and one of the scientists.

_'We've got another older one out in the storage room, sir. A girl.'_

_'Really? Any relation to this one?'_

_'Not even a slight chance. She's black and has an American accent. They seemed to know each other though.'_

With a feeling of dread, Dr Farrell picked up his phone and rang through to security. 'Get to the holding room!' he ordered. 'There's been a breakout.'

* * *

'We have to go.' Alex's soft voice broke through Amber's thoughts.

'Are you ready?' Amber directed her question at Hex.

He nodded. 'Feel better already.' He pushed himself up and staggered a little as the world spun. Alex and Amber steadied him and the three of them made their way across to the van.

Inside, the children had woken up, finding the van an uncomfortable sleeping place, even with the blankets.

'Ready to go?' Paulo called from the front seat.

'Yep!' Amber helped Hex sit down before staring around the van's interior. Her eyes came to rest on Hamish and she frowned. Hex tugging on the hem of her shirt made her forget.

'Sit down,' he said, pointing to the floor. 'Paulo's starting up.'

Amber sat down, folding her legs so she wouldn't take up too much room. She bit her lip and cringed as Paulo started the van up. Beside her, Hex held his breath and closed his eyes. Huddling up to make herself as small as possible, Amber waited for the thud of bullets to hit the van's side or the shouts of alarm to start up. Nothing. As Paulo started to drive off, amber couldn't help grinning. They were going to make it!

Suddenly a pair of headlights bounced towards them.

'Turn around, Paulo!' Li screamed. Paulo had already spun the wheel and was coaxing the van to spin around. It moved slowly until Paulo completed the turn, before shooting up the track. The pair of headlights followed them, getting closer.

'A van probably wasn't the best choice,' Paulo admitted as he wrestled the vehicle over the bumping track.

'Probably not,' Alex agreed from his spot beside Paulo. He turned his head to look behind him. 'How you guys doing back there?'

He didn't really need to ask. Freya and Keira were huddled together, holding each other tightly, looks of complete horror on their faces. The three boys were trying to act tough, but their eyes were huge and their faces pale. Li was gripping Mia tightly, keeping a close eye on Phoebe and Sophia who had squashed themselves into a corner. Amber was on the verge of hyperventilating. Hex grabbed her hand and turned her head around so he could see her face.

'Amber. It'll be ok.' His voice was calm and steady, despite the absolute terror he was feeling. Amber nodded and tried to get her breathing back under control.

Suddenly, the van lurched. 'Give yourselves up and we won't shoot you!' The voice came from behind them and it took a moment for Alex to work out the person was using a megaphone. Despite their situation, he couldn't help grinning. _What a choice. Give myself up and get injected with hideous, untested drugs or keep going and get shot. Hmmm. That's a toughie._ The van lurched again and slowed.

'What happened?' Amber's voice was high with panic.

'I don't know.' Paulo set his jaw and tried to speed the van up. It screamed and refused.

An ear-splitting bang made all the kids scream and throw themselves on the floor.

'They're shooting at us!' Li cried. Another bullet ripped through the night and thudded into the van's side. Gripping Mia tightly, Li closed her eyes and silently urged Paulo on, knowing he was their only hope.

**CLIFFHANGER! Don't you love 'em? Next update possibly soonish, depending on the idea flow and school work. **

**Using this space to also advertise: **

**Pass the Story**

**Challenges**

**"Discovery" put forward by be-nice-to-nerds**

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**Go for it people! The ideas are there and they're really good ones as well. Doesn't need to be long, just meet the criteria. Check out the forums for more info. **

**WE NEED MORE ALPHA FORCE FICS!**


	12. Chapter 11

'Stay low!' Li hissed as a third bullet pinged off the van. She was going to try and comfort the kids some more when the side window of the van shattered. Phoebe let out a scream at almost the exact same moment and Li felt sick.

Phoebe had been shot.

Sophia let out a wail and gripped her friend's arm. 'Help, Li!' she cried.

'Hang on,' Li said through gritted teeth. With the van jerking about, there was no way she was going to be able to keep Phoebe still or even fully assess the damage that the bullet had done. Paulo was driving the van and wouldn't be able to help her.

Dumping Mia in Hex's lap, Li and Amber crawled towards the two girls. Phoebe was lying still; she was gripping her side, her face twisted in pain. Li gently pulled Phoebe's hands away from her wound and cringed. Already the girl's shirt was red with blood and more was seeping out, forming a puddle on the floor. Pulling her jumper off, Li tried to make a pressure bandage; holding it to the wound would slow the flow of blood. Just as she went to put the make-shift bandage on, the van dipped into a pothole and Li fell forwards, hitting Phoebe's side.

'Oh my God! I'm so sorry. Are you-' Li stopped, realising that Phoebe hadn't made a sound or even reacted in any way when Li fell on her. She looked at Amber to find her friend was holding Phoebe's wrist, a shocked expression on her face. Li's glance turned to her right, where little Sophia was sitting, tears streaming down her face.

'Sophia...' Li gathered the girl in her arms and held on to her tightly. Sophia sobbed loudly, knowing without being told that her friend was dead.

Alex turned around again to look in the back and saw Li cuddling Sophia, while Amber knelt by Phoebe. He had heard the bullet hit the window, but hadn't realised any one had been hit. Now one of the kids was dead.

'Paulo. I think Phoebe was shot.' Alex's voice was quiet, but Paulo heard every word clearly and understood what he meant.

Paulo swore and ground his teeth. 'They won't stop.' He glanced at the road in front of them and swore again as another bullet was fired in their direction. Paulo swerved and yelled out as the van bucked out of his control and fishtailed off the road, crashing into a tree. Spinning in his seat Paulo yelled, 'Go! Get out!'

Hex looked up, startled, as Paulo yelled at them to get out. He saw Paulo wrestle with his seatbelt before climbing out of the van, closely followed by Alex. They reappeared seconds later by the van's door.

'Hurry! We haven't got much longer!' Alex leapt inside and was going to start helping kids out when a voice boomed, 'Don't move!'

Hex groaned and held Mia close as five armed men appeared behind Paulo, their guns trained on the van and its occupants. 'What do you want?' Hex decided to play dumb. You never knew; it might work.

'Funny,' one of the men replied sarcastically. 'Did you really think you could escape?'

'You thought wrong,' a second man finished.

'What do you want?' Alex followed along with Hex's plan, but his question was answered with humourless laughter.

'Stop playing games with me, you brats! Get out of the van!'

Reluctantly, Alpha Force and the kids did as they were told. The younger kids huddled together while the older ones tried to comfort them and squeeze down their own terror. They were herded towards a second vehicle but Li looked back at the last second and saw with utter horror that Phoebe's body was being stuffed into a bag.

'What are you doing?' she cried.

The men looked up, startled. 'She can still be useful,' one of them said.

Li turned away, bile rising in her throat. Paulo put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a one armed hug.

'Don't give them the satisfaction,' he murmured. Li nodded, feeling hopeless.

Once they were all seated in the vehicle, three of the men climbed in the back with them, training their guns on the little group, while the remaining two got in the cab.

'It'll be ok, guys,' Amber whispered to the children, as much for their benefit as for herself. They stared at her as though they found it hard to believe that she couldn't see the horrible mess they were in.

Freya slipped her hand into Amber's. 'Thanks,' she said simply.

'For what?'

'For trying to help us. No one's ever done that before.' Freya looked sadly at her little sister. 'Thanks.' She hugged Amber before sitting back, a hard look on her face.

'What are you thinking?' Amber asked, slightly worried by the expression on Freya's face.

'They can do whatever they like to me,' she whispered fiercely. 'I'm not going to let them see how much it hurts me. They're not going to win this time.'

Amber was saved from the moments silence by the vehicle starting up. The three men eyed them warily and fingered the triggers on their guns. Alex gulped and drew Hamish closer to him. The little boy gripped his shirt in one shaking fist, never taking his eyes off the gun.

'Calm down,' one of the men drawled. 'We were told to bring you back alive.'

'Why were you shooting us then?' Li shot back, appearing braver than she felt.

The man shrugged. He shifted position and Li could see the side of his face was puckered and scarred. 'You wouldn't stop.'

Silence descended on the vehicle, broken only when they pulled up at the centre. The kids began to cry as the back doors were opened and they caught sight of several crates.

'No!' Sophia screamed. She had been silent since Phoebe had died but now she was in hysterics, her chest heaving with terrified sobs. 'No! Don't make me go in there again! I don't wanna have a needle!' Paulo tried to grab hold of her but she wriggled from his grasp and jumped out of the truck. She was running before her feet touched the ground, but she barely took two steps before she was shot. With a scream, Sophia fell forwards onto the concrete. A man raised his gun and shot her again, making sure she was dead. Sophia's body didn't even move.

'That's what'll happen to any one else stupid enough to try and escape.' The man sneered at the remaining kids before gesturing with his gun that they should get out.

Cautiously, Alpha Force and the kids climbed out of the back of the van. They stood close together, waiting to be told where to go. Amber and Hex knew what was coming next, but Alex, Li and Paulo had no idea.

When they were led over to the crates, Li stared at Amber and Hex in astonishment.

'What the hell?' she demanded.

'Just do it, Li,' Hex said softly as he saw several guns swing in their direction. Alpha Force helped the kids into the cages, feeling like traitors, before climbing into the small spaces. Paulo was the most uncomfortable. He sat hunched up, a murderous look in his eyes, swearing quietly in Spanish. Li slunk into the back corner of her cage, eyes closed, trying to keep calm. Alex sat quietly, not showing any reactions. Hex slumped in his cage, eyes glazed with pain. Hamish, Josh and Luke sat quietly, looks of defeat etched into their faces. Freya had her head pressed against the bars of her crate, speaking softly to Keira. As their cages were wheeled away, only one thing was certain. They were in serious danger.

**This will probably be my last update for a bit as I have run out of ideas (as you can probably tell by the last bit of this chapter) and I also want to do the next two chapters for The End.**


	13. Chapter 12

'Do you have no conscience! Have your morals got up and left! What would your mother say if she say where you worked and what you were doing!' Li was grabbing the bars of her crate, yelling at the passing scientists. Some looked guilty, others looked annoyed or angry and quiet a few stared blankly in front of them as though she didn't exist. 'Barbaric imbeciles! I hope you all rot in jail for what you've done!' 

'Li,' Paulo hissed. 'Shut up.'

Li rounded on him, eyes blazing. 'No, Paulo. I won't "shut up" until some one grows a brain and realises just how inhumane this is!' 

'Please, Li,' Paulo begged. 'You're just making them mad.'

'Mad? I'll show them mad.' Scowling, Li kept mouthing off for the entire journey through the centre. Paulo kept quiet, not wanting to aggravate the already delicate situation. He could see the main guy twitch every time Li spat out another mouthful of insults and Paulo knew it was only a matter of time before Li landed in some really hot water. 

Sure enough, as they reached their final destination, Li overstepped the mark. As she caught sight of the rows of cages containing the dead children, she started swearing her head off, calling their captors every name under the sun and some which Paulo had never even knew existed. He knew that Li had a temper but this was the maddest he had ever seen her.

'I can't believe you could do this!' she screamed, tears making her vision blurry. 'How can you just sit here and watch all these kids _die_!' The man swung around angrily, fists clenched. 

'Shut your mouth little girl. You have no idea what you're talking about.'

'I know that you and every one working in this building is a cold-blooded _murderer_.' 

'SHUT IT!' the man roared as he leapt at Li's crate. He swept it off the trolley, and Li crashed to the ground. He started to kick the cage, booting Li in her metal prison into walls and the trolleys. 'I-told-you-to-shut-you-mouth,' he spat, each word punctuated with a fierce kick. Amber was screaming and Paulo and Alex were yelling at the man to stop. Seeing Li crumpled in the cage, her body battered and bloody, the man swung around and glared at the remaining caged kids. 'That's what'll happen if I get any more lip.' 

An older woman with grey hair and very red lips spoke sharply to the man. 'What the hell, Greg? That was _totally_ out of order. These are valuable subjects. Have you completely forgotten your little chat with Dr Farrell last week? Watch yourself.' 

Greg rolled his eyes. 'Whatever, Alicia.'

'Dr Henry, you idiot,' Alicia snapped. Greg shrugged and turned away, glaring at the terrified kids. 'Don't take your problems out on them. There's a punching bag in the staffroom. Use it.' She spun on her heel and marched out of the room. 

'Do I need to hurt anyone else?' Greg snarled. He smirked as the kids shook their heads. 'Good.' He glanced at his watch before clapping his hands in delight. 'Look at the time,' he trilled. 'I need to get your accommodation sorted out.' Two lower ranking scientists grabbed a trolley each as Greg pushed the third out into the corridor. Two male scientists scurried past the little procession with a fourth gurney. They picked up Li's cage and flung her onto the trolley.

Greg suddenly looked nervous. 'Ah... You're not going to tell Dr Farrell what I, er, did, are you you?' 

One of the scientists laughed. 'You're safe, Greg. The Doc wanted one of them with cuts and stuff anyway. You just saved one of us from having to duff her up a bit.' The two men wheeled the gurney out of the holding room and past the waiting group. Before Alpha Force knew what was happening, Li was out of sight. 

'Ok.' Greg and his lackeys made their slow way down the corridor, stopping in front of the cell doors and bundling kids inside them. There were only a few cells so they had to share, which no one minded. Freya, Keira and Amber were flung into the first cell, while Josh, Luke and Hamish were put in the cell across from them. Paulo and Alex had a cell assigned to them but Hex's cage remained on the trolley.

'What's going on?' Paulo whispered to Alex.

'I have no idea, but I don't think it's good.' 

'Come on then,' Greg sneered as he grabbed the handles of the gurney Hex's cage was strapped to. 'You have an appointment with Dr Farrell.' Hex disappeared down the corridor. Alex and Paulo shared a horrified look. Two of their friends were in serious danger and they couldn't do a thing.

* * *

'Tranquilise her.' Alicia nodded to a scientist who quickly scurried forward and jabbed Li's floppy arm. 

'All done, ma'am. Give her a minute but she'll be out for a while now.' 

'Strap her to the table,' Alicia barked. 'And you-' she pointed a finger at a second female '-fetch me batches 23 and 24, section G.' Alicia rubbed her hands together and smiled at Li. 'Ah, my dear, you have no idea how important you are. I hope this batch works, especially after what happened last time... Poor little kid. Having your flesh burn away- nasty,' purred Alicia, perfectly aware that Li could hear every word. 'I enjoy my job so much.'

* * *

'Stupid little idiot!' Dr Farrell backhanded Hunter. The young scientist grabbed his cheek and whimpered. 'You and Alloway deserve each other,' he spat. Alloway gulped nervously and tried to make herself smaller. 

'Sorry, sir,' she whispered. 

Dr Farrell rounded on her. 'Sorry doesn't cut it, girly. Because you and Hunter decided to have a little romance, I have lost half of my subjects! Idiots! Not only do I only have only one boy left to experiment on, but you have risked exposing us. What do you think will happen if they make it to town and alert the authorities? Huh? Bet you never thought of that when you were eating each others' faces.' Dr Farrell glared at his two employees but he was interrupted from dishing out their punishment by a burst of static from his radio. 

'Sir?'

'What is it, Turner?' Dr Farrell sighed.

'We've got all but two, but the two ain't talking.' Turner's voice sounded uneasy through the radio.

'Excellent!' For the first time since he had learned of the breakout, Dr Farrell smiled. 'Have you got the boy I was testing?'

'He's in the lab, waiting for you, sir.' 

'I'll be right down.' Dr Farrell hooked the radio back into his pocket. 'I'll deal with you two later,' he grated before hurrying down to the lab, eager to complete his testing.

**I'll try to get another chapter up by the end of the week again. Fingers crossed!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hi all! Am on my last reserves of inspiration for this fic and will be finishing it up next chapter. The ending that I have in mind is pretty mean of me but it is really the only way that I can really think of to end this fic. Let's just say it's disaster with a HUGE "D" and I have no idea whether you'll all like it or not as it is really mean. Short chappie here and the next one should be fairly short as well. I apologise in advance for any bad writing as I have seriously lost the inspiration.**

Li barely remembered her tests. Before she knew it, she was being chucked into a cell. Whimpering with fright, she watched the scientist shut her door and walk away. The bottom 30 centimetres of the door had bars closely together and a small hatch that food or water could be shoved through. 

'Li?' Paulo's voice was anxious. He and Alex were lying side by side across the hallway from Li's cell, their faces pressed against the bars. 

'Hi guys,' Li tried to say, but her throat was dry and she couldn't manage it. Instead Li lay down in front of the bars and smiled reassuringly at her two friends. 

'Are you alright?' Alex asked.

'Oh my God! Li!' Amber's face appeared at the bottom of her cell. 'What happened? Are you ok?' 

Li nodded, trying to find her voice. 'Yeah. I mean, I think I am,' she finally croaked. 'They gave me an injection and rubbed some stuff on my cuts. I don't really remember much.' 

'Did you see Hex?' Amber said softly, worry edging into her voice. 

'No.' Li sighed and fought back her tears. 'We are in such a mess. No one knows where we are, we can't get out... What the hell are we going to do?' 

* * *

Dr Farrell took the last sample from Hex and nodded to a trainee. 'Take him back to the cell. Make sure he's isolated from the others, though.' 

'Yes, sir!' the trainee answered enthusiastically, snapping a clumsy salute. Dr Farrell merely raised an eyebrow and flicked his hand towards the lab doors. 'Oh. Right. Straight away, sir.'

Within minutes Hex was being shoved into a cell next to Li. He was on the verge of losing consciousness but managed to edge towards the bars on his cell.

'Hey, guys,' he called weakly. 'You all ok?'

'Hex?' Li said. 'We're fine, but what about you?'

'I don't feel too good,' admitted Hex. In actual truth, Hex had never felt so awful. His organs were in agony, reacting to the horrible drug that was floating about his system. 

'Hang on, Hex,' Amber put in. 'We'll get out of here.' Her only answer was silence. 'Hex?' Amber began to panic. 'Paulo? Alex? Can you see Hex?'

Alex craned his head and groaned. 'He's out.' 

Paulo swore. 'This just keeps getting better. He needs medical attention urgently.'

'Why don't you press intercom and ask for a doctor, then?' Amber snapped, worry making her angry. She only just contained her sobs and gathered Freya and Keira to her, taking comfort in their warmth. 

'Are we going to die?' Keira asked suddenly. Freya peered expectantly at Amber.

'I- I-' Amber had no idea how to respond.

'It's ok,' Keira said quietly. 'You don't have to lie. I want to know.'

'I'm not sure, sweetie. Maybe. I really hope we don't but I can't say for sure.' 

Hamish's shrill voice echoed around the cell. 'Li? Did you see my little brother out there? He's small, with blonde hair and blue eyes. His name's Alfie.'

Amber felt a jolt as she suddenly remembered what had been bugging her all day. Alfie. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten him. No wonder Hamish reminded her of him. They were brothers. Amber felt sick, knowing that Alfie had probably died during the experiments. 

'Sorry, Hamish.' Li said. 'I didn't see him.'

Silence reigned for several minutes before a shrill alarm broke through their thoughts. 

'What is that?' Amber gasped, covering her ears. 

'I have no idea!' Alex had to shout to be heard over the noise. 

'Ah!' Hex's voice was a welcome one, even though he sounded in pain. 'What on earth?'

'Glad to have you back, Hex.' Li grinned, before grimacing and covering her ears. 'Turn it off,' she moaned. 

The corridor was suddenly filled with scientists and trainees, scurrying everywhere. The cell doors were opened and the kids were confronted with a gun in their faces. 

'Shut up and follow me,' was the message given to each of them. At the prospect of being shot, no one argued and meekly followed the scientists down the corridor. 

* * *

'Stay here. I'm locking the door and don't even try to escape. Guards are outside.' The auburn haired lady pointed her gun at the miserable little group before twirling on her heel and leaving the room, locking the door behind her.

'Are we in a basement or something?' Paulo asked no one in particular. 

'Maybe,' Alex said as he stared around him. The kids had all shut down, cuddling each other in the corner, closing their eyes and trying to imagine that they were any way but where they were. 

Li sat down suddenly. 'We're dead,' she announced, her voice cracking. 'Dead.'

'No we're not,' Amber hissed, glaring at her friend. 'Don't you _dare_ even _think_ that.'

'Why are you getting so mad,' Li said offhandedly. 'Just 'cause I can face the facts and you can't.'

'Shut up!' Amber howled, burying her face in her hands. 'Just shut up, Li!' 

Feeling really uncomfortable, Hex patted Amber gently on the back. She gave a sob and turned slightly before burying her face in his chest. Hex looked startled for a minute before hugging Amber tightly. 'Shhhhh,' he murmured, trying to slow her sobs. 'It's ok. We'll be fine.' 

'That was harsh, Li,' Alex eventually said. 'Especially in front of the little kids.' He gestured towards the small group.

'It's fine, Alex. We know we're not getting out of here. We've always known that.' Freya smiled gently. 'Thanks for giving us slight chance, but Li's right. The alarm is for when outsiders come to the centre. It's happened before but we arrived just after. I overheard a lady talking about it. They have to get rid of all the evidence.' She paused. 'We're the evidence.'


	15. Chapter 14

**Right. I know it's been a while and in my last chapter I said "mean ending", but I was rereading everything and I worked out another ending. This one a lot nicer. Hope you all like it.**

The basement door creaked open, causing everyone in the little room to huddle together. Alloway's head peeked around the corner of the door, her face twisting in sympathy as she saw the room's terrified occupants.

'Quickly,' she hissed, pushing the door further open. 'This way.'

No one moved. Freya looked expectantly at Amber, holding Keira in her lap.

Alex glared at Alloway. 'Why should we trust you?'

'Dr Farrell is the most despicable man I have ever had to work under,' spat Alloway. 'I hate him, I hate what he does here and I hate how he treats other people. He's a jerk who deserves to rot in a hole somewhere.'

'Ok...' Li said eventually. She shared a look with her friends. _What have we got to lose?_ Amber and Paulo nodded slightly, Hex shrugged and Alex didn't react.

'We'll come,' Amber said, standing up. 'But if you lead us straight into a trap, I hope you end up in a hole with Dr Farrell.'

'Follow me.' Alloway disappeared as Alpha Force helped the younger kids to their feet. They were tired, afraid and hurting but still they didn't complain.

'Do you trust her?' Freya whispered to Amber, slipping her hand into the older girl's grasp.

Amber shrugged. 'I don't know who to trust any more.'

Alloway slipped down the corridor. She'd ditched her lab coat and had on black jeans and a black jumper. At every corner she paused, listened and looked for any sign of life and then continued. Luke stumbled and Alex picked him up, cringing at how light the little boy was. He was so skinny and undernourished; it was amazing he was able to stand up at all. Mia was being carried by Li and Keira hovered by her side, while Hamish trotted close to Hex and Josh shadowed Paulo. The little kids all had a big kid that they had taken to and felt safe with.

Alloway suddenly stopped. She turned around and got everyone into a huddle.

'This hatch leads outside. Once you get out, run for the tree line. Keep low and silent. They'll most likely have guys with guns up on the roof, but they probably won't have searchlights yet.'

'That's comforting,' Amber muttered.

'Older ones, stay with a younger kid, but stay away from each pair. The more spread out you all are, the better chance you'll have of not being seen.' She stopped and straightened up quickly. Alpha Force instinctively froze, ears straining to hear the slightest noise.

Footsteps. Coming closer.

Hex gripped Hamish's hand and tensed, ready to run. The footsteps stopped and then started again. Seconds later, Hunter came round the corner, nearly dieing of fright when he bumped into Paulo.

'Alyssa!' he gasped, hand against his heart. Alloway smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He blinked, realising that the corridor was rather crowded.

'I'm sick of Farrell,' Alloway explained. 'I'm helping get these kids out and I'm leaving too.' She smiled. 'Come with us.'

Hunter shot a nervous glance about him. 'Really? But-'

'Shhhhh.' Alloway put her finger against Hunter's lips. 'Don't ask any questions. Just stick close to me and you'll be fine.'

The hatch was opened and the little kids passed through. The huddled against the sparse cover, waiting for Alpha Force, Hunter and Alloway to join them.

'Pairs?' Alloway whispered.

'Yep.'

'Good luck, kids,' Hunter added softly. 'We'll go first.' He and Alloway bent over double and trotted forward. Hunter was tense, you could see it in the way he ran, but Alloway cruised along like she was having a Sunday stroll in the park.

They were halfway to the tree line and Freya and Amber, Li and Mia, Alex and Luke and Hex and Hamish were running after them when the first shots rang out. This was followed by yells and shouts. It was like a starter's gun. Hamish screamed and put on a put, Hex hot on his heels.

Paulo and Josh, who'd just started to leave the cover, froze for a split second, unsure as to what they should do. Josh decided it for them though. He heard and saw Hamish start to run forward and he followed. Paulo had no choice but to run forward. He zigzagged across the ground, all too aware of how exposed he was. Luckily it seemed no one had brought out a searchlight yet.

Li hoisted Mia further into her arms and sprinted to one side, diving into some bushes. Mia wailed in protest but Li ignored her, worming her way further into the bushes. She got out her mobile and dialled for the police, holding Mia with one arm. Keira thumped into the ground next to her, tears dribbling down her cheeks.

Amber and Freya kept their steady jogging pace, hoping to remain inconspicuous. A beam of brilliant light cut sharply through the night and Amber dragged Freya down. They squirmed along on their stomachs for a few metres as the searchlight played around them, before jumping up and running again. Just a dozen or so metres before cover. To their right, Alex and Luke disappeared into the trees. They'd overtaken Alloway and Hunter, who had drifted left. Amber stole a quick glance in their direction and then wished she hadn't.

Alloway stumbled, sprawling out on the ground. Hunter ran on for a few metres before realising his girlfriend wasn't with him. Almost in slow motion, he spun around and started back towards her. The searchlight swung towards them and someone shouted as Hunter was caught in the beam. A dozen bullets slammed into him and more hit the ground around him. Hunter screamed and fell down, right next to Alloway. The scientist gave a sob and struggled to sit up. Big mistake. As soon as Alloway's head appeared, the armed security on the roof fired again. Alloway didn't stand a chance.

Amber shuddered and swung right, pulling Freya down into cover. She hoped her friends were ok and that the other kids were all safe. Freya gave a squawk and Amber pulled up sharply.

'What?' she hissed. But Freya wasn't listening. With a cry of delight she threw herself at her little sister. Amber grinned in relief as Li's head poked up from behind some bushes. The Anglo-Chinese girl waved her phone.

'I've phoned the police. They're on their way.' She squeezed over to make room for Amber, Keira and Freya, dragging Mia onto her lap.

'Where're the others?' Amber asked.

Li shrugged, looking anxious. 'I think Alex is over there. Hex is somewhere near him too, I think.' She paused before adding quietly, 'Haven't seen or heard Paulo.'

The bushes rustled and Hex and Hamish appeared. They grinned in relief and huddled behind the bush with the girls.

'Alex is coming,' Hex said. Sure enough, there was more rustling, this time from behind them. Alex loomed up, shadowed by a smaller figure.

'You both ok?' Li asked.

'I'm fine.' Alex turned to Luke. 'How do you feel?'

'Fine.' Luke drew himself up and puffed his little chest out. 'I'm fine.'

Amber laughed and patted the ground next to her. 'Sit down, little guy. The police will be here soon, but until then, we need to stay hidden.'

It was ten long, anxious minutes before Paulo and Josh turned up. Li was almost hysterical with worry and when Paulo suddenly appeared next to her, she gave him a huge hug. He grinned and hugged her back.

'Don't do that,' she mumbled, head against his shoulder. Josh looked a little put out so Amber gave him a quick hug and gestured to Hex's lap, the only available seat left behind the bushes. Josh snuggled up to Hex and fell asleep. Hex looked startled and shared a puzzled look with Amber. After all this little kid had been through, he could still just fall asleep like that. Amber chuckled and pointed at Paulo, then back to Josh before miming someone sleeping. Nodding, Hex smiled. No wonder Josh had taken to Paulo; they were both very similar.

When police sirens began wailing a few minutes later, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. After the reunions, things had become tense again as everyone started imagining the security guards suddenly stumbling across their little hideaway.

Two constables looked startled to see the ragged group hurrying from the trees. They hurriedly got their sergeant and then ushered them over to a waiting ambulance.

'We can't even just have a holiday, can we?' Li muttered as she climbed into the ambulance.

'That'd be boring,' rejoined Amber. She smiled, looking around her at her four friends. 'But maybe it'd be nice once in a while.'

**It's done. Sorry about the rather abrupt ending but I've finished it. Sorry to everyone who's been waiting for an update for ages. **


	16. Epilogue

**I know that this story is meant to be completed, but be-nice-to-nerds' review from many chapters ago got me thinking, as did spinkle's last review. This is a ****very little epilogue for A Haunting Truth that shows some of the ramifications of the drug testing on Li and Hex. **

Paulo, Amber and Alex were sitting in the lounge room of the Middleton house. It was raining and every now and then a huge clap of thunder would shatter the relative peace. Paulo was curled up on the couch, a Tom Clancy novel gripped in his hands. Alex and Amber were lying on the floor, playing _Go Fish_.

'Three,' said Amber.

Alex checked his cards. 'Umm…Go fish.'

'Hmph. You sure you aren't cheating, Alex? I haven't got any of your cards yet.'

'Maybe that's because you can't play _Go Fish_ for crap!' retorted Alex. Amber's eyes narrowed and Alex quickly spun around to talk to Paulo. 'Good book?' Paulo merely grunted and flicked the page.

Giving up on the cards, Amber chucked hers on the main pile and stretched. 'Any one know where Li and Hex got to?'

'I'm right here, you idiot!' exclaimed Li's outraged voice. Amber sat bolt upright, Alex's eyes grew wide and even Paulo looked up from his book.

'Where's "here"?' Alex said slowly.

'On the other couch!' Li sounded disbelieving. Three heads swiveled in the direction of the couch.

'Not calling you a liar, Li,' Paulo started, 'but you're not on the couch.'

'What do you mean I'm not on the couch?'

'We're looking straight at where you say you are but you're not there!' Amber's voice was rising in panic.

'Don't be stupid,' Li said. There was a soft shimmering and she materialised into view. Alex yelped and Amber fainted. 'What the hell?'

'Li. You just…appeared,' whispered Paulo softly.

Amber came round after her brief faint and stared in wonder at Li. 'How did you do that?'

'Do what?'

Just then, Hex entered the room, whistling and carrying a bowl of food. Steam rose off the food, but Hex didn't seem to notice. He sat down on the floor and plonked the bowl on the carpet. 'Dig in,' he announced before grabbing a fork and spooning curry into his mouth. 'Yum!'

'Li was invisible.' Alex looked evenly at Hex, expecting him to scoff.

'Really? That's nice.' Hex continued to eat the curry. 'This is really good.' He picked up another fork, dug into the curry and handed the loaded utensil to Amber. 'Try it.'

Amber, her mind still swimming over what Li had just done, took the fork absentmindedly and put the curry into her mouth. Her eyes flew open and she spat the curry onto the ground, grabbing wildly for the jug of water on the coffee table. 'HOLY FREAKIN' OYSTERS!' she shrieked.

'What?' Hex was still eating calmly.

After downing half the jug, Amber gasped, 'That was boiling. Spicy and hot.' She stared at Hex. 'How can you eat that?'

Shrugging, Hex answered, 'I think it's a bit too mild, actually.'

Slowly, Amber and Alex slid backwards, away from Hex and Li. Paulo put his novel down and drew his knees up to his chest.

'This is weird,' Alex muttered.

A light clicked on in Amber's mind. 'Remember that facility in Northumberland?' she said in a low tone. Paulo and Alex nodded, then looks of understanding crossed their faces.

'Looks like those drugs weren't so harmless after all,' murmured Paulo.

**Sorry to James Patterson for taking Fang's ability, but thought it would fit with the cream thing.**


End file.
